Rim lift hoist for barrels



Aug. 19, 1958 H. w. THOMPSON I 2,848,128

RIM LIFT HOIST FOR BARRELS 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed. Feb. 20, 1956 \H HhHhn nu Aug. 19, 1958 H. w. THOMPSON 2,848,128

RIM LIFT HOIST FOR BARRELS Filed Feb. 20, 1956 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 IN V ENTOR.

arg Z'fiaa e 72012905012 U-QM'J H. w. THOMPSON 2,848,128

RIM LIFT HOIST FOR BARRELS Aug. 19, 1958 Filed Feb. 20, 19:56

3 Sheets-Sheet 3 6a 60 jg? 1 I: H J72 l '1 1 1: I 511 J :E i w 1. h

61 INVENTOR.

46 If Wade 7 1022305022 United States atent O RIM LIFT HOIST FOR BARRELSHarry Wade Thompson, Chicago, Ill., assignor to Chicago- TramrailCorporation, Chicago, Ill., a corporation of Illinois ApplicationFebruary 20, 1956, Serial No. 566,422 Claims. (Cl. 214-653) Thisinvention relates to devices for lifting and carrying containers such asbarrels, drums and the like which have an annular rim or downwardlypresented shoulder therearound, and has reference more particularly tofacilities for lifting and carrying such containers by the rim orannular shoulder thereof.

Such containers usually occupy an upright position in transportation,storage and use thereof, and especially when filled, and it is quitedesirable to lift and carry them from place to place in this uprightposition so that they can be picked up and deposited in this uprightposition without necessitating any change of position or extra handlingwhich has been required heretofore in lifting and carrying suchcontainers.

The principal objects of the present invention are to provide improvedequipment for picking up and carrying containers of the barrel or drumtype; to lift and carry such containers by the rim or annular shoulderwith which they are usually provided at or near the top thereof; tolocate the lifting facilities at the sides of the container between thetop and bottom thereof; to utilize a fork type lifter which straddlesthe container and is movable sidewardly to and from the containerlifting position; to provide container rim or shoulder engagingfacilities which are conveniently retractable to receive the containertherebetween and which positively engage the rim or annular shoulder ofthe container for safe lifting thereof and uniformly support thecontainer at suitable intervals therearound to maintain the container inupright position, these and other objects being accomplished as pointedout more particularly hereinafter and as shown in the accompanyingdrawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a side view of a hoisting device provided with lifting andcarrying facilities in accordance with this invention and showing abarrel or drum in position for lifting thereof;

Fig. 2 is a front view of the container straddling and container rimengaging facilities of Fig. 1 with the container shown in broken lines;

Fig. 3 is a top view of the structure shown in Fig. 2 and showing theconnection thereof to the hoist mast which is shown in section on theline 3-3 of Fig. 1;

Fig. 4 is a top detail view showing portions of the container rimengaging members with the container at the place of entrance thereto andremoval therefrom;

Fig. 5 'is a sectional view taken substantially on the line 55 of Fig. 3and showing the facilities for retracting the container rim engagingmembers;

Fig. 6 is a sectional view through the top of one of the container rimengaging members taken on the line 66 of Fig. 2; and

Fig. 7 is a partial view of another form of hoist with the containerlifting and carrying facilities of the present invention appliedthereto.

The container lifting facilities of this invention are applicable to anyform of equipment for carrying the container from place to place, asuspended traveling crane 2,848,128 Patented Aug. 19, 1958 ice in Fig. 1wherein the crane is of conventional traveling type and has a hoistgenerally similar to commonly used hoists of fork lift type rotatablysuspended from the crane and comprising a mast, indicated as a whole at10, which is secured at its upper end to and extends vertically downwardfrom a turntable 11 which is rotatably carried by a crane trolley 12having wheeled engagement at 13 with a bridge or beam 14 which is inturn supported at its opposite ends by wheels 15 on overhead runways 16,only one end support of the bridge or beam 14 being shown, as both endsupports are alike and the construction of such cranes is well known.

The turntable 11 is centrally pivoted to thebottom of the trolley 12 asindicated at 17 to rotate on a vertical axis and anti-friction meanssuch as wheels 18 may be provided on the trolley at intervals around theturntable within and near the periphery thereof to facilitate turningmovement of the turntable. The mast 10 extends downwardly to a placenear to the floor, which is indicated by the reference numeral 19 inFig. 1, but terminates at a suflicient distance thereabove for freemovement of the mast throughout the area of the floor.

Thus the mast 10 is freely turnable about the vertical axis of the pivot17 and is movable from place to place within the area serviced by thecrane in the permissible movements of the crane trolley 12 from end toend of supported hoist adaptation of the invention being shown thebridge or beam 14 and the movement of the bridge or beam 14 from end toend of the runways 16 of the crane.

The mast 10 as shown herein is composed of two channel irons (see Fig.3) which are rigidly secured together, as for example by welding andat'corresponding places intermediate of their width to the oppositelateral edge flanges 21 of an intervening web 22 so-that the channelirons 20 are fixedly spaced part in parallel relation with their flangesfacing inwardly as shown in Fig. 3, and each angle iron is securelyconnected at its upper end to the turntable 11 to be positively held bythe turntable in vertical position.

This mast 10 serves as a guideway 'for a carriage 23 which is movablevertically therealong and has a rectangular front plate or work supportmounting at the front thereof, and indicated as a whole at 24, andprovided with two laterally spaced corresponding vertically elongatedbrackets 25 projecting from the rear thereof between which the mast 10is interposed- Each bracket 25 may be conveniently made of a length ofwide channel iron as indicated at 26 with end plates 27 secured to theupper and lower ends respectively of each, and each bracket 25 is spacedfrom the respective mast channel iron 20 to accommodate therebetween asmall channel iron 28 which is secured to the outer face of therespective mast channel iron 20, as for example by bolts 29 and extendsfrom end to end thereof to serve as a guide for the carriage 23.

Each bracket 25 has a pair of rollers 30 and 31 thereon locatedrespectively near the upper and lower ends thereof and flanged at theirouter sides, as shown in Fig. 3, the upper ones 30 of which engage thefront faces respectively of the channel iron guides 28 and the lowerones 31 of which engage the rear faces of said guides 28 to facilitatemovement of the carriage 23 vertically along the mast 10, and thiscarriage is suspended from hoisting mechanism by which it is operablevertically along the mast.

This hoisting mechanism may be of any desired construction, that shownherein being similar to that of Claud C. Riemenschneider applicationSerial No. 190,800 and comprises a vertically elongated gear case 32interposed between the side channels 20 of the mast and having a shaft33 extending horizontally therethrough at its lower end, the said shaftbeing operable by a 3 reversible motor 34 through a reduction gearing inthe gear case 32.

The shaft 33, which extends between the channels of the mast in a planeparalleling the web 22, has a pair of sprockets 35 thereon, each ofwhich has a separate length of sprocket chain 36 trained thereover andmaintained in operating engagement therewith by an overlying curvedguard 37.

The portions of the chains 36 depending respectively from the sprockets35 at the front thereof are of equal length and extend downwardly infront of the web 22, as shown in Fig. 3, and at their lower ends aresecured to a bracket structure 38 which is rigidly secured to andprojects from the rear of the carriage front plate 24, and the other endportions of the chains 36 hang loosely at the rear of the sprockets 35.

Thus by operating the motor 34 in the reverse directions the carriage 23is movable along the mast to lift or lower the load carried by thecarriage 23.

For lifting and carrying containers such as barrels, drums, and the likewhich have an annular rim or downwardly presented shoulder therearound,as for example a barrel such as shown at 39 in Fig. 1 having an annularrim 40 around the top, the front plate 24 of the carriage 23 has a forklike structure projecting forwardly therefrom and comprising two sidearms 41 which are spaced apart a suitable distance to accommodate thebarrels, drums or other containers therebetween.

These side arms 41 may be of any desired construction and combined withthe front plate 24 in any desired manner, but are preferably part of acomposite fork structure which is readily attachable to and detachablefrom the carriage to permit conversion of the lifting and carryingequipment for lifting and carrying other loads by removal of the barrelor drum handling facilities and substitution of handling facilitiessuitable for such other loads.

The front plate 24 of the carriage is provided with a forwardlyprojecting reinforcing rim therearound, the top and bottom portions ofwhich are indicated at 42 and 43 respectively in Fig. 3, and withupright rim portions 44 at the opposite ends of the plate 24 andextending between the opposite ends respectively of the top and bottomrim portions 42 and 43. These upright rim portions 44 which aresufiiciently heavy for the purpose, are correspondingly provided neartheir upper ends with aligned bearing openings 45 therethrough toaccommodate a shaft 46 for detachably securing the composite forkstructure (or any other desired load handling facilities) to thecarriage 23.

The fork arms 41 of the composite fork structure hereof may be of anydesired construction but are shown herein as lengths of relatively widechannel iron with their outer ends beveled at the underside, asindicated at 47, and each fork arm 41 is secured at the rear end to anupright angle iron 48, and immediately ahead of the upright angle ironsthe fork arms 41 are connected to one another in parallel spaced apartrelation by a top pair of angle irons 49 and 50 and a bottom angle iron51, all of these parts being preferably secured to one another bywelding, and the fork arms are connected at the bottom to the bottomangle iron 51 by braces 52. Each upright angle iron 48 has a bearing 53secured thereto through which the shaft 46 extends to secure the forkstructure to the carriage front plate or mounting plate 24 and the angleirons 48 extend downwardly below the bottom portion 43 of the mountingplate 24 and bear against the respective upright rim portions 44 to holdthe fork arms 41 horizontally.

Each fork arm 41 has a pair of spaced bearing brackets 54 and 55 thereonand projecting upwardly therefrom and having aligned bearing openingsfor a shaft '56,'and each shaft 56 has fixed thereon between thebearings 54 and 55 a wide wing member 57 which projects upwardlytherefrom and is contoured at its upper end on a suitable curvature, asshown in Fig. 6, to correspond substantially to the curvature of aconventional barrel or drum,-

each wing member being widely and shallowly forked at the upper end toprovide a pair of widely spaced ledges 57:: which are spaced apart andpositioned to engage under the rim 40 of a barrel or drum and therebyprovide four place support for the barrel underneath the rim 40 at suchintervals therearound that a barrel supported thereon will be securelyheld in upright position. The wings 57 may be secured to the shafts 56in any convenient manner, each being shown herein with a pair of spacedapart hubs 58 at the lower end thereof through which the respectiveshaft 56 extends and with pins 59 extending through the hubs 58 andshaft 56 to lock the wings on the shafts to turn therewith.

The fork members 41 are spaced apart not only to accommodate barrels 39freely therebetween but also to locate the mounting places of the wings57 sufficiently far apart so that the wings 57 slope inwardly, as shownin Fig. 2, to engage under the barrel rim 40, and thus are held securelyin engagement with the barrel by the weight of the barrel thereon.

Each shaft 56 extends rearwardly through a respective bearing opening inthe upright flange of the angle iron 49 and at the rear of said flangehas a lever arm 60 secured thereto which extends inwardly toward andterminates in close proximity to the other lever arm 60, as shown inFig. 5, and each arm 60 is connected at its inner end by a separate link61 to the outer end of an operating lever 62 which is pivoted at itsouter end at 63 to the upper end of a short upright length 64 of angleiron which is secured at its lower end to the upper end of the angleiron 48 at that side of the fork assembly in a quarter turn positionwith respect to said angle iron 48 so that the short angle iron 64 has aflange 65 thereof at the front for pivoted connection of the operatinglever 62 thereto.

Each lever arm 60 has a lost motion connection with its respective link61, each link 61 having a long slot 66 for this purpose in which thepivot pin 67 of the respective arm 60 is engaged for connection thereofwith the link so that the pivot pin 67 is movable from end to end of theslot 66 and the inner end of each arm 60 thus movable independently ofthe link 61 by which it is connected to the operating arm 62.

Each lever arm 60 has a separate spring 68 connected thereto andextending downwardly and connected to the angle iron 51 to exert atension on the respective lever arm 60 to hold it at the lower end ofits respective slot 66 with the inner end thereof bearing against thehorizontal flange 69 of the angle iron 49 as shown by the full lines inFig. 5, so that the horizontal flange 69 serves as a stop for said leverarms 60, and the lever arms 60 are oriented on their respective shafts56 in such relation With their respective wing members that when theinner ends of the lever arms 60 are in lowermost position bearingagainst the horizontal flange 69 of the angle iron 49, the wings 57 areswung inwardly each to an equal extent and with their upper endsseparated a distance less than that required to accommodate therebetweenbarrels or containers which are to be lifted and carried thereby.

Thus when a barrel or container is interposed in lifting positionbetween the lifting Wings 57, the inner ends of the lever arms 60 arenecessarily raised to some extent above the horizontal flange 69 of theangle iron 49, the lost motion connection of the arms 60 with the links61 permitting such raising thereof, and the springs 68 then are free toexert tension on the wings 57 to hold them firmly engaged with thebarrel or container interposed therebetween.

The lever 62 is operable by the operator to lift the inner ends of thelever arms 60 conjointly to swing the Wings 57 outwardly, for example tothe broken line position shown in Fig. 5, to receive a barrel orcontainer therebetween for lifting or to release a barrel or con tainertherefrom and said lever 63 may have facilities for manual operation forthis purpose or it may be operable in any other desired manner.

Preferably, however, it is power operated and for this purpose I haveprovided a hydraulic jack 70 which is pivoted to the angle iron 49 at 71(see Fig. and has a piston or plunger which is connected at the upperend of the jack to the operating lever 62 by a pivot pin 72 to raise andlower the lever 62 and operate the wings 57.

For operating the jack 70 any conventional hydraulic supply and controlfacilities may be employed, such as a conventional combination pump andmotor unit 73 having a liquid reservoir from which liquid is pumped intoa pressure chamber and maintained therein at a jack operating pressureand wherein a conventional three position valve 74 is provided which isconnected by a hose 75 with the jack 70 and has one position in whichliquid is supplied under pressure from the pressure chamber of the unit73 to operate the jack 70 to lift the operating lever 62, and has asecond position to hold the jack and lever 62 in any position ofoperation thereof, and has a third position to relieve the pressure inthe jack 70 and permit return of the liquid therefrom to the reservoirof the unit 73, this valve 74 being preferably operated by a solenoid 76with flexible leads 77 therefrom to a conventional three position valvecontrol switch which may be located at any convenient place for operatorcontrol.

The wings 57 may be engaged with the barrel or container 39 in variousways for lifting thereof and, for engagement therewith by movement ofthe fork arms 41 horizontally to the barrel or container straddlingposition, each wing 57 is provided at the extremity thereof remote fromthe carriage 26 and near the upper end with an outwardly directedextension 78 each of which is curved or inclined outwardly in adirection opposite to that of the corresponding extension 78 of theother wing member 57 so that conjointly these outwardly directedextensions 78 provide a flared entrance to the space between the upperends of the Wings 57.

In the operation of the above described equipment the hoist is moved tothe place where the barrel or container to be lifted is located byoperating the bridge 14 along the runways 16 and the trolley 12 alongthe bridge 14 and the fork arm 41 are adjusted to the desired elevationby operation of the hoist motor 34 in the appropriate direction, and ifthe barrel or container 39 is maintained in a substantial manner in anupright position, as for example when it is filled with a suflicientlyheavy load, the wings 57 may be automatically engaged therewith forlifting by mere movement of the fork arms 57 sidewise to straddle thebarrel or container.

In such case the hoist is moved along the beam or along the runway or bymovement along both to a position at one side of the barrel or container39 and the mast is turned on its pivot 17 so that the fork arms 41project toward the barrel or container 39 in a position to straddle thebarrel or container. Then the carriage 23 having been adjusted along themast 10 to a sufliciently low position so that the upper extremities ofthe wings 57 are some distance below the rim 40 around the top of thebarrel or container 39, the hoist is moved, either by operation of thetrolley 12 or movement of the bridge 14 or by movement of both, directlytoward the barrel or container so that the fork arms 41 straddle thebarrel or container 39 to an extent that the wings 57 are at diametricalopposite sides of the barrel or container, the wings 57 being adapted toseparate and receive the barrel or container 39 therebetween, duringsuch movement of the hoist, by reason of the flared portions 78 of thewings which serve at the time as deflectors which engage-the curvedsidesof the barrel or container and swing the wings 57 outwardly to receivethe barrel or container therebetween.

As the wings 57-are thus swung outwardly, the inner ends of the leverarms 60 lift upwardly from the flange 69 of the angle iron 49 againstthe tension of the springs 68, the pivots 67 thereof moving upwardly inthe slots 66 of the links 61 at that time, and thus throughout theapplication of the wings 57 to the barrel in this manner, the upper endsof the wings 57 are maintained in contact with the barrel.

When the forward extremities of the wings 57 at the location of theoutwardly flared portions 78 thereof pass the half way place across thebarrel in the direction of straddling movement of the fork arms 41 andwings 57 the said forward extremities of the wings are caused to followthe then receding contour of the barrel until the barrel is at a centralposition, shown by broken lines at 39 in Fig. 3, between the ledges 57aof each wing member 57, and in this position the wings 57, by reason oftheir concavo-convex form of Fig. 6 will have closed against theopposite sides of the barrel under the tension of the springs 68 so thatthe spaced apart ledges 57a of the wings bear firmly against the barreland as explained above, these ledges are shaped to correspond to thecross sectional contour of the barrel at the places where they engagetherewith.

As above explained, before this operation of straddling the barrel takesplace, the carriage 23 was adjusted along the mast so that the upperends or ledges 57a of the wings 57 are some distance below the annularrim 40 around the upper end of the barrel 39 and accordingly when thebarrel has been straddled in this explained operation the ledges 57a areengaged against the sides of the barrel at a distance. below the barrelrim 40.

Then after the barrel 39 has been thus straddled by the fork arms 41 andthe wings 57, the hoist is operated to lift the carriage 23 and the forkarms 41 attached thereto, whereupon the wing ledges 57a slide upwardlyalong the sides of the barrel to close the distance at which they arepositioned below the rim 40 and engage the underside of the barrel rim40, the springs 68 serving at that time to hold the ledges 57a firmlyagainst the sides of the barrel, and thereupon further elevation of thecarriage 23 and fork arms 41 cause the wings 57, by the engagement ofthe ledges 57a thereof with the barrel rim 4%), to lift the barrel offof the floor 19 whereupon it may be transported by operation of thetrolley 1.2 and beam 14 to any place within the area serviced by thetraveling crane and deposited in upright position at any elevationwithin the range of lift for which the hoist is capable.

At the place of deposit the carriage 23 and fork arms 41 are moveddownwardly until the barrel 39 rests on the floor 19 or other surface onwhich its is to be deposited, and thereupon the load is transferred fromthe ledges 57a to the floor 10 so that the wings 57 are released andfree to be withdrawn from the barrel, and if the barrel is thensubstantially supported so that it is not likely to be tipped thereby,the wings 57 may be withdrawn from the barrel by merely backing thehoist away from the barrel, at which time the inside concavity of thewings 57 provide such inward flaring of the outer halves of the wings 57that the outer ledges 57a of the two wings 57 ride against thetransverse curvature of the barrel walls and deflect the wings 57outwardly from the barrel against the tension of the springs 68 untilthe crown portion of the opposite sides of such transverse curvature isreached, whereupon the forward upper ends of the wings then ride downthe declining opposite sides of the barrel until the inner ends of thelever arms 60 come to rest upon the flange 69 of the angle iron 49.

If the barrel 39 which is to be lifted is empty or lightly loaded and islikely to be tipped by engaging the wings 57 therewith, as explainedabove, the carriage 23 may be elevated to a position so that the wings57 are at an elevation above the barrel and the hoist moved so that thefork arms are positioned in such relation to the barrel that they may bemoved directly downwardly from that 7 position to the straddlingposition at the opposite sides of the barrel.

Then, in such case it is merely necessary to lower the carriage 26 andthe fork arms 41 to a sufficiently low position wherein the upper endsof the wings 57 are below the rim 40 of the barrel, in which operationthe wings 57, because of their inward inclination, engage the rim 40 ofthe barrel and are deflected outwardly until the ledges 57a of the Wings57 pass the rim 40 to a position thereunder, whereupon the springs 68cause the ledges 57a of the wings to snap inwardly and engage the sidesof the barrel underneath the rim 40, and the barrel is ready to belifted as explained above by operating the hoist to lift the carriage 26and the fork arms 41.

When such barrel has been lifted and transferred to the place of depositthereof it is lowered to a position in which it rests upon the floor 19or other supporting surface and is then released by operating the valve74 to cause the jack 70 to lift and hold the operating lever 62 in anelevated position in which the wings 57, through their connections 56,60 and 61 with the lever 62 are swung outwardly from the barrel and heldin such outwardly swung position, whereupon the hoist is either backedaway from the barrel or the carriage 26 and fork arms 41 lifted to anelevation above the barrel so that the hoist may then be moved away fromthe deposited barrel without contact therewith.

Obviously the wings 57 may, in any event, be operated solely by thehydraulic mechanism to admit the barrel to the lifting position at theloading place and to release the barrel at the place of deposit thereof,without resort to the automatic separation of the wings 57 by engagementthereof with the barrel as explained above.

Thus when the hoist approaches or reaches the position at the side of orabove the barrel to receive the barrel in the lifting position betweenthe fork arms 41, the valve 74 is operated to retract the wings 57 andhold them in the retracted position.

Then the fork is moved either sidewise or downwardly as the case may be,so that the arms 41 thereof straddle the barrel with the ledges 57a ofthe already retracted wings 57 located at an elevation below the barrelrim 40, whereupon the valve 74 is then operated to release the retractedwings 57 and permit the springs 68 to swing the wings 57 inwardly sothat the ledges 57a thereof engage the barrel underneath the rim 40thereof.

Then the barrel may be lifted and carried to a new location in the samemanner as previously explained and deposited at the new location, and atthis new location the valve 74 is operated to retract and hold the wings57 and their ledges 57a away from the barrel until the fork 41 is movedaway from the barrel. Obviously, if the hoist is to be returned to pickup and carry another barrel, the wings when thus retracted at the placeof barrel deposit may be retained in the retracted position until thehoist is positioned to pick up another barrel and the valve 7 4 thenoperated to release the wings from the position to which they wereretracted in deposit of the preceding barrel.

Any form of lifting and transporting equipment may be employed with thepresent invention, as for example, a fork lift truck such as indicatedat 79 in Fig. 7 which has the barrel engaging and lifting facilities atthe front end thereof, such truck application being advantageous, forexample, when the barrels are to be loaded in or removed from freightcars or in other places where overhead support of the hoist is notdesirable or is impracticable.

In this embodiment of Fig. 7 the mast 80 is of the same construction asthe mast of the previously described construction, but it is secured atits lower end to the front of the truck 79 and the two chains of thehoist are passed around idler sprockets 81 at the upper end of the mastand have the rear length 82 then ex- 8 tended down to and engaged withsprockets 83 at the front end of the truck 79 which are power operableunder the control of the truck operator to raise and lower the barrellifting facilities, which are the same as those previously describedherein and have the same reference numerals applied thereto as in thepreviously described traveling crane supported embodiment of theinvention.

It is to be noted that in accordance with the invention hereof, thelifting facilities for the opposite sides of the barrel or container maybe located entirely between the upper and lower ends of the barrel orconainer supported thereon so that there is no obstruction either at thetop of the barrel or at the bottom thereof, and that the barrel orcontainer may be lifted directly from its position on the floor withouttipping or any other manipulation of the barrel or container preparatoryto lifting thereof or to engage the lifting facilities therewith, andthat all operations are preformed mechanically under the control of theoperator, and the barrel or container is maintained at all times in thesame upright position and that the barrel engaging facilities are heldin the barrel supporting position by the weight of the barrel orcontainer and its contents and safe lifting and carrying of the barrelor container thus assured.

While I have shown and described my invention in a preferred form, I amaware that various changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the principles of the invention, the scope of which is tobe determined by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A device for lifting an upright positioned barrel type container withexternal annular shoulder therearound, the said device comprising ahoist having a work holder which is liftable by the operation of thehoist and has opposed work engaging rocker members between which suchupright container is receivable in an interposed position between saidrocker members and by which such interposed container is peripherallygrippable for lifting thereof by the work holder, each said rockermember being individually pivoted at its lower end and extended upwardlytherefrom to swing inwardly above the pivot toward the other rockermember and lean against such aforesaid interposed barrel like containerin upwardly and inwardly pushing relation thereagainst, the said rockermembers being yieldingly impelled to swing inwardly toward one anotherand provided at their upper extremities with upwardly facing seatsarranged to engage and push upwardly against the underside of theexternal annular shoulder of such interposed barrel like container inthe aforesaid lifting operation of the hoist and said rocker membersbeing connected to common operating means by which they are conjointlyswingable away from one another against the force by which they areyieldingly impelled to swing toward one another as aforesaid.

2. A device in accordance with claim 1 wherein the said common operatingmeans thereof includes a loose connection thereof with said rockermembers permitting a substantial extent of swinging movement of eachrocker member away from the other rocker member independently of saidcommon operating means.

3. A device for lifting an upright positioned barrel type container withexternal annular shoulder therearound, the said device comprising aportable hoist, having a work holder which is liftable by the operationof the hoist and of fork type open at one end and closed at the otherend with two arms projecting from the closed end thereof to the open endthereof and spaced apart to accommodate such barrel type containertherebetween in upright position, each said arm having mounted thereon awork engaging rocker member pivoted at its lower end to its respectivearm on a pivotal axis extending lengthwise of the respective arm andeach rocker arm extending upwardly from its said pivotal axis to swinginwardly above its pivotal axis toward the other said rocker member tolean against such aforesaid interposed barrel like container in upwardlyand inwardly pushing relation thereagainst, the said rocker membersbeing yieldingly impelled to swing inwardly toward one another andprovided at their upper extremities with upwardly facing seats arrangedto engage and push upwardly against the underside of the externalannular shoulder of such interposed barrel like container in theaforesaid lifting operation of the hoist and said rocker members beingconnected to common operating means by which they are conjointlyswingable away from one another against the force by which they areyieldingly impelled to swing toward one another as aforesaid, the saidcommon operating means being located at the closed end of the fork typework holder.

4. A device for lifting an upright positioned barrel type container, thesaid device comprising a hoist having a work holder which is liftable bythe operation of the hoist and has opposed work engaging members betweenwhich such upright container is receivable and by which said containeris peripherally grippable for lifting thereof by the work holder, thesaid opposed work engaging members being retractable to receive suchupright container therebetween in an interposed position for peripheralgripping of the upright container by said members and lifting of theupright container by the work holder, the said opposed work engagingmembers having a bottom entrance through which such upright container isreceivable vertically to said interposed position and said opposed workengaging members having a side entrance through which such uprightcontainer is receivable horizontally to said interposed position andsaid opposed work engaging members being retractable as aforesaid byrelative entering movement of such upright container vertically throughsaid bottom entrance and by relative entering movement of such uprightcontainer horizontally through said side entrance.

5. A device in accordance with claim 4 wherein the said work engagingmembers thereof are provided at opposite sides of said entrances withportions flaring outwardly in a direction reverse to the respectivedirection of entrance of the container therethrough and engageable bythe entering container to retract said work engaging members by saidrelative entering movement of said upright container through saidentrances.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS757,339 Oakley Apr. 12, 1904 1,608,371 Carroll Nov. 23, 1926 1,929,447Remde Oct. 10, 1933 2,006,949 Hockensmith July 2, 1935 2,176,251 DuhanOct. 17, 1939 2,178,369 Dunham Oct. 31, 1939 2,548,063 Reinhart Apr. 10,1951 2,582,663 Weiss Jan. 15, 1952 2,660,327 Blatz Nov. 24, 19532,704,167 Framhein Mar. 15, 1955 2,732,083 Smith Jan. 24, 1956

